We’re in the midst of midterm season this time of year, and with the end of the quarter approaching rapidly, finals are also coming up in a couple weeks. Scary, right? As a freshman, I’m still getting used to the pace of college classes, and I’ve had to completely change my study strategies in order to do well in my classes. Not only that, but I’ve also had to figure out different test-taking strategies for all my classes. Here are 4 test-taking strategies that I’ve found especially effective this quarter:
1. Arrive Early to your Test
This isn’t a strategy for while you’re taking the test, but I find that arriving early to the testing location and taking a few minutes to get settled really helps me. Arriving early can help calm you down, so you don’t feel stressed before taking the exam. You get a chance to clear your head and breathe before starting the exam and being calm during an exam makes a big difference. I make the effort to arrive at my exams around 10 minutes early, so I can take a minute to calm down before starting my exam.
2. Do a Brain Dump During the Exam
A brain dump is essentially where you write down everything you remember about the subject or the topic; this can be useful for an exam where you have a lot of memorization. You can write down all the facts or equations you’ve memorized somewhere on your exam, and then proceed to complete the exam. I find that doing this really helps me, because after writing everything down, my head is clearer, and I can finish my exam more efficiently.
3. Read Through the Exam before You Start
Once the time starts, it can be tempting to just rush and start the test, but it’s more beneficial to look through the test first. I know that I’ve been doing this on my tests recently, and it really helps to do the problems I know first to boost my confidence, and then go back to the problems I’m unsure about. Approaching the test this way can help you work more efficiently because after doing the problems you know, your head is clearer and you’re more confident, therefore more likely to figure out the problems you were previously unsure about.
4. Pace Yourself
This has been my biggest challenge so far during college. College exams go so much faster than exams in high school, and it’s important to know how to pace yourself and how much time you have for each question. You can do practice exams in exam-like conditions in order to get a feel for how much time you have in total and for each question; I’ve started doing this and it’s really helped me to understand how I need to utilize my time during an exam.
These are some of the most effective test-taking strategies I’ve found this quarter, and I hope they can help you too! Good luck on all your upcoming exams!